The changing face of shopping

A food revolution is happening in Australian supermarkets and you, the shopper, and your downsized trolley and pull-along plastic basket are driving it.

Queensland University of Technology onsumer behavior expert Dr Gary Mortimer says the sushi and pizza kitchens popping up in supermarkets are just the beginning of huge fundamental changes afoot brought on by TV cooking shows, fast-paced lifestyles, changing demographics, and demand for exotic foods.

ABC photo

The ABC accepts no responsibility for content on non-ABC websites

612_weekends

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

A major change is consumers using the unit price information ($ per 100g/100ml/etc) that since 2009 large supermarkets must provide on shelf labels and other price signs for packaged grocery items. Unit prices allow shoppers to easily and quickly compare the value of different package sizes, brands, special offers/regular prices, packaged/packaged products, etc without having to do complex calculations. Shoppers who use unit prices can make big savings. But, unfortunately unit prices are often very difficult or impossible to notice/read, and the units of measure are inconsistent (for example some wraps are unit priced per wrap and others per 100g). And, unit prices may not be provided at all for some items, for example special offers. To help shoppers get the best out of unit pricing, all supermarkets should make unit prices much easier for consumers to notice, read, understand, and use.